"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3: 20-21

29 August 2008

Rejoice with us! A heartfelt need has been realized! Since Don took over as SF (Strategy Facilitator) and Pam took over as Cluster Prayer Advocate, we have had a goal of completely renovating the "Forgotten Peoples" website to make it updateable and useable. We decided what information needed to be conveyed on the site and by the time our summer volunteer Wes arrived (see earlier blog), we allowed Wes to use his creative gifts and younger set of eyes & perception to help us bring it to final form. Please check out the site at www.forgottenpeoples.info (see column called "other interesting places to visit" on our blog)! Our prayer is that this site will inform and encourage people to pray for these forgotten peoples and for future workers among them.

When you think of Central, Eastern and Southern Africa you may think of tribal people, with bright colored clothes or wraps, wearing beads, singing with drums and shakers. But in the CESA region the increasing number of mosques and the influence of the Muslim faith impact most people groups. On September 1, with the sighting of the new moon, a time of fasting begins called “Ramadan”. This month of fasting, one of the five Pillars of the Islamic faith, is a result of obedience and causes Muslims to remember the qualities of Allah. Because of the spiritual dimension to fasting, many Muslims study the Koran and visits increase to mosques during Ramadan. We would like to challenge you to pray for Muslims during this month by using this CESA specific prayer guide. Pray that many will hear and entrust their lives to Jesus. If you would like to see the "CESA Ramadan Prayer Calendar," please click on the following link:

08 August 2008

Wow! The month since the last family update has flown. On June 25th, we welcomed our youngest niece into the world. Hailey Murphy Lynch joined her mom and dad (Trish & Danny) and her big sister, Hannah. We can’t wait until we get to see her in person in about 9 months!

On July 3rd, Drew left and began summer school. His last day of class is today and his exam is on Monday. Yes, that was a quick class! He has also been busy working on the NCSU rugby schedule for the fall semester as well as recruiting new players during freshmen orientations.

On the 16th, Don & I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary. It is really hard for us to believe that we have been married that long, but we praise the Lord for his love, protection and guidance in our marriage. We were able to spend a few hours in Jeffreys Bay that day watching the Billabong Pro Surfing Competition. It was really exciting and we were able to see the World Champion (and eventual winner), Kelly Slater from the USA, in action. He was impressive to watch.

Other exciting news, Matthew finished 3rd in the country in the Bio-Science Olympiad. This is a nationwide competition between Grade 11 and 12 students. There were around 120 high schools competing and several thousand students. The test was long and Matthew said is was “quite challenging.” We are very proud of him. Finally, last night was Matthew’s “matric dinner.” This is the formal event of the year for Grey High School. Since it is an all-boys’ school, they don’t have a prom but have a formal dinner. The guys rent tuxes and have a great evening. I think it is finally sinking in for him, and for us, that he is almost finished with his “school-boys career.” We will not dwell on that aspect right now.

Do you find it hard to do more than one thing at a time? I do!! It has been a challenge to try to keep up with all the Lord is doing around us (just the part that we know about). The Lord has given us many opportunities to serve him these past few weeks. Praise the Lord for 15 new believers in Barcelona. I also thank him for sending Wes our way to help us create 5 new people group websites. Can I hear an amen in the house? Pam and I are currently creating a new Forgotten Peoples website through GoDaddy.com and will transfer the domain name and scrap the old site soon. We will keep you posted.

Wes, Jerry Reid and myself (Don) traveled to the Garden Route cities of Knynsa, George, and Mossel Bay. Tourists from around the world travel here to see the breath-taking, scenic beauty of the land and ocean, whales, elephants, birds, and much, much more. The picture at the top of our blogsite is from Dolphins Point at the Kaaimans River Mountain Pass. We did not go there as tourists. We came to pray, explore and survey how best to reach this area with the help of a very few small, scattered Baptist churches in an area of exponential growth. Please pray that we will follow the Lord’s leading as to where we should place new mission personnel and with what people group(s). Who knows, maybe the Lord will show you that you are the one we have been praying and longing for to come join us.

Lastly, isn’t it great to see prayers answered? Two years ago at our annual meeting near George, a group of 40 or so of us prayed and did evangelism one day with Pastor Peter and his small, struggling, township church. His wife died 2 months prior and he was considering throwing in the towel. The work was hard and the results were meager. We also prayed over the ground where he hoped beyond hope to build a church. Praise the Lord, his church now averages over 100 and they have a beautiful, church building with no debt. Other churches pitched in to help them build it. Not only that, but he is now engaged. God is so good!!